Annual meeting kicks off March 1 in Norman, Okla.

February 29, 2012

Communicating the hazards of severe weather will be the focus of the annual National Severe Weather Workshop, March 1-3 at the National Center for Employee Development in Norman. Organized by NOAA, the workshop will include a review of the significant weather of 2011 and look forward to the goal of a Weather-Ready Nation where society is prepared for and responds proactively to weather-dependent events.

“The way we communicate about weather hazards has become more important to communities across the country that are increasingly vulnerable to severe weather events. This workshop will address lessons learned from recent severe weather to identify partnerships and progress that will help foster better prepared communities,” said Greg Carbin, warning coordination meteorologist at NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center and co-chair of the 12th annual workshop.

Information shared at the workshop will be used by NOAA’s National Weather Service, emergency managers, and broadcast meteorologists to improve services to communities before, during and after severe weather and other natural disasters. An informed and motivated public will transform the way the United States responds to severe weather and, ultimately, save more lives and livelihoods.

Keith Stammer, director of the Joplin/Jasper County, Mo., Emergency Management Agency, will be the featured speaker during the Friday evening banquet. He will discuss the incredible challenges his community faced since being struck by the single deadliest tornado in the United States in more than 60 years. The EF-5 tornado that hit Joplin on May 22, 2011, killed 158 and injured more than 1,000 people.

The National Severe Weather Workshop is one of a series of events being held across the nation as part of NOAA’s Weather-ReadyNationinitiative. Each event brings together a diverse network of partners critical to emergency response to share ideas and preparedness practices. These collaborations began in December at a nationalworkshopinNorman. The next stop was a townhallmeeting in New Orleans, where NOAA announced several key actions to improve the forecast warning process and save lives. A select group of physical scientists and social scientists will meet April 24-26 in Birmingham, Ala., to set priorities for tornado research and identify needs for future integrated research.

A free storm spotter training session will be offered to the public on March 3 in conjunction with the workshop. Registration is required.

The National Severe Weather Workshop is organized by NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center, NOAA National Weather Service Norman Forecast Office, Central Oklahoma Chapter of the American Meteorological Society, and the Oklahoma Emergency Management Association.

NOAA's National Weather Service is the primary source of weather data, forecasts and warnings for the United States and its territories. NOAA’s National Weather Service operates the most advanced weather and flood warning and forecast system in the world, helping to save lives and livelihoods and enhance the national economy. Working with partners, NOAA’s National Weather Service is building a Weather-Ready Nation to support community resilience in the face of increasing vulnerability to extreme weather. Visit us online at weather.gov and join us on Facebook,Twitter and our other socialmediachannels.

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